BBCWhen Rob Toon picked up a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories from a homeless charity in Nottingham, it changed his life.
He had been living rough on the city’s streets for several months and had just had his phone stolen, leaving him without any entertainment.
Out of boredom, he turned to books and became hooked, reading at a pace of one a day.
His literary habit was noticed by Naomi Wright, the owner of a cafe near to where he used to sleep, and set off a chain of events that gave him “a chance to talk to people with no judgement”.
Mr Toon, 47, has since moved into assisted living accommodation and has recently achieved grade five – the equivalent to a low B or high C – English and maths GCSE results.
Mr Toon said, to begin with, reading “alleviated boredom and it gave me something to hide behind”.
“Less people bother you when you’ve got your head in a book,” he added. “I didn’t want people to notice me.”
He soon ran out of the books available at the Emmanuel House charity and sometimes read the same one four times, just to “have something to read”.
Miss Wright, 37, said she often saw Mr Toon reading and thought “it always looked so peaceful and serene”.
One day, she struck up a conversation with him about some Stephen King novels she was getting rid of and the two started sharing books.
Miss Wright put out a plea to the public for more and got about 50 donated, which she kept at the cafe for Mr Toon.
He also walked around with a rucksack filled with them – ranging from horror to self-help and IT textbooks.
Mr Toon said many people saw him reading and it helped him start up a conversation with them.
“She [Miss Wright] set something in motion,” he said. “It was a real icebreaker.
“It gave me a chance to talk to people with no judgement, no politics, just talking to people about a good book that they’ve read.
“I was angry at the world… but meeting Naomi and everyone out here, it kept a connection with me and society. I was in danger of losing that.”
Building a new life
Mr Toon said the friendships he had made with people living and working nearby showed him “not everyone was out to get him”.
He added it had enabled him to open up to authorities and, in April this year, he moved into assisted living accommodation provided by a homeless charity after two years spent sleeping rough.
He has begun to build a new life and, after receiving his GCSE results and reading books about coding while living on the streets, Mr Toon is considering a career in cyber security.
He and Miss Wright have continued to meet up regularly and discuss books, although he admitted he has less time to read than he used to.
“I’m thankful for Naomi and everyone around here for bringing me out of myself,” he said. “Without reading and this book exchange, I’d probably still be out there.
“I’d like people to be more aware that there are homeless people out there who want a better quality of life and just need a bit of help.”
Miss Wright added: “Getting to know someone like Rob, who was so intelligent… who has just fallen on hard times… to bond over books and things like that, it makes them feel more like you’re seeing them for who they are – and not just a charity case.”
